Interview with a WW2 Dutch Soldier
Below is a tiny portion of an interview dating back to 1997, where my father tells—in his own words—of his experience leading up to World War II. This text is an unaltered transcript of the recorded interview.
“I am 78 years old now and the reason I start this thing is that so many times my children, even grandchildren, have asked me, Dad, Opa, can’t you tell us something about your early life? Where you were born and how you lived, and especially the time of the war in the Netherlands. We know so little about it. And maybe you can tell us something about what you have seen and what you have gone through.
Now, this is really something. I don’t really like to do this. All those memories from the early years. And all those bad things that happened. But still I will try to give you some things.
Now, I wouldn’t start off right away with the gruesome things of the war. But I may start, let me say, the time when I was a young guy. Nineteen years old. And I was drafted into the army. Now that happened because every family, one boy—if there were boys—one boy went in the army, and that was me. So, on April 1939, I had to report in Arnhem. In the Menno van Coehoornkazerne. (Dutch army compound) So, I was drafted there. It should be only five and a half months. That was compulsory. And then you could go home again and do your normal life. And then once every, I don’t know how many, maybe two, three years you had to come up again for another week, or two weeks, for retraining.
So actually it wasn’t that bad. Five and a half months wasn’t too long.
But what happened, instead of five and a half months—when they were past—that stupid Hitler started the war machine. And what happened, our troops had to be mobilized in case they would invade Holland. They started already to invade; I think it was Norway and Denmark. So we knew that there was a big chance that he would also come.
Now, at the time, I was in Arnhem in the Coehoornkazerne. Most of the boys we were with were boys from Arnhem. City boys. And we had our training there. We had our marches. Ah. We had to go in the fields. We had to exercise. And all kinds of things. Putting up little wars against one another. With blanks. Of course. And shooting. And all those kinds of things.
One thing I have to tell you, that every time if we had shooting, I don’t know why, but I hardly ever missed anything. Even in the military house while we were there, sometimes you had shooting practice games with the house father. The winner gets a pack of cigarettes, or a chocolate bar or something. I always had that stuff. No one could beat me.
So but anyway, that is beside the point. Later on it came good. It helped me when the real war came. I was a sharpshooter.
When that morning came when our troops got mobilized, the whole city Arnhem was nervous. You could see it.
Hitler had only one saying. Better cannons than butter.”
The Fight for Arnhem Bridge and Holland
Lest we forget and allow history to repeat itself, I just want to share a few thoughts.
In September 1944, there had been an allied attempt to free Holland. Montgomery’s plan, ‘Operation Market Garden,’ was to secure five bridges in a sixty-five mile stretch. Difficult to take, he aimed to use paratroopers. They’d land, take the Arnhem Bridge and hold it till the others on land arrived. But the Germans speculated an airborne attempt would occur in the Arnhem area. After a courageous attack, the Americans secured the Nijmegen Bridge—the largest bridge in Europe at the time. But because of the enemy stronghold in the area, the last bridge was unattainable. The paratroopers were left to hold the Arnhem Bridge alone, and after a time, lost the fight. This left the area of Holland where my parents lived at the time, under German rule, for another seven months. A time known as the hunger winter.
The book, *A Bridge Too Far by Cornelius Ryan, profiles the fifth bridge, simply known at the time as the Arnhem Bridge. My father was one of the forced laborers that came into Arnhem after they lost the fight mentioned in this passage.
Rauter, chief architect of Nazi terror in the Netherlands, expected the Dutch underground to attack and the population to rise at any moment. He was determined to stamp out any kind of insurrection by the simple expedient of executing three Dutch nationals for each Nazi killed. Rauter had declared an “emergency” immediately after the German retreat and the stampede of Dutch Nazis to Germany two weeks before. His police had taken bitter revenge against anyone even remotely involved with the Dutch resistance. Men and woman were arrested, shot or went off into concentration camps…. all travel between provinces was forbidden. More restrictive rules were imposed. Anyone found on the streets during curfew risked being fired on without warning. All over southern Holland, in anticipation of the British offensive, the Dutch were pressed into service as laborers digging trenches for the Wehrmacht. In Nijmegen, Rauter filled his workforce quota by threatening to throw entire families into concentration camps. Gatherings of any kind were forbidden. “Where more than five persons are seen together,” one of Rauter’s posters warned, “they will be fired on by the Wehrmacht, SS or police troops.” 1
My Thoughts on Another Kind of Freedom
I often think of the allied soldiers who left their homes not knowing what they’d face. It brought hope. Ultimately, their actions bought freedom for a people they didn’t even know. I’m reminded of a savior. Jesus left his heavenly home to buy our freedom. I wonder, do we fight hard to find Him? It’s just a thought. Because if there was ever a time to look for God, to kneel and pray, it’s now. Now is also the time to reserve space in our hearts for his Holy Spirit.
The Pathway to a Story of God’s Grace
Years ago, my father’s accounts of these events and his faith in God gripped me. His story, and God’s grace, led me to write a fictionalized story of what my father went through. That manuscript has finally taken shape and is seeking publication.
Blessings,
Johanna
© Copyright 2021 All Rights Reserved Worldwide
- Ryan, Cornelius, “A Bridge Too Far,” Simon & Schuster; First Paperback Edition 1995
*Links within this post Do Not contain affiliate links.
Leave a Reply